Thank you for the reviews SakuMiChanNoGaara, TheLunaGoddess, Senka, Lavendor Queen, time-twilight, PurpleRawan, blackpearrlgurl, Snowwy, and Natsuki Scarlet!

I think we can all agree the fight between Quorra and Mae will be very interesting!

Happy reading!

Chapter thirty-seven: Mae

"Being in a new place, with strange people, being with myself— a practical stranger."

Stranger. That's what Quorra said. When she first arrived here. Well, now here, the Forest of Death, but here as in Konoha. To her, she was a stranger to others, even in her own skin. Little did she understand, I was a stranger as well.

Quorra was mad— furious was the correct terminology. Her Peridot eyes could zap me to embers. But, I couldn't blame her. I accused her of slacking. I didn't mean to, I swear. The words slipped out. All I meant by not agreeing with her was that I believed she doesn't try hard to protect Leda.

Quorra distances herself from people. She could be your Right Hand man one moment, the next, she will slip away like fog over water. I've noticed it, Leda has noticed it; Kiba as well. But does Quorra? I couldn't be positive.

When Quorra felt forced to drop out of school, she became distant. She manifested into an apparition who couldn't peacefully transition into the afterlife. It was to the point where Leda didn't feel right staying with her and asked if I could take her in. Quorra didn't kick Leda out of her house, but she didn't question her leaving.

And who was the girl Leda turned to, talking until the early hours of the morning about hardship and family struggles? Me.

So when Quorra mentioned that she knew more than anyone what hard work was, meaning I didn't know what hard work was, I lost it. It was uncertain if this inner anger derived by my fear of the forest, the worry of a missing Leda, or the burden of satisfying my family; the same family who doesn't feed me dinner unless I came home with nothing-less-than-outstanding records.

If Leda taught me one thing from our hours and hours of conversation, I couldn't back down. I would be stepped on all over again, just like my family does.

I was about to retaliate, but Quorra cut me short. "And for being such a genius, it doesn't take one to know that it was pretty hurtful of you to give those "easy" answers to Kiba. What kind of teammate are you? He isn't even on your team!"

I felt burnt from her laser eyes. Within seconds, I became the crummy, insignificant girl I always was. The girl who never had a backbone to defend herself. The girl who knew things but didn't know things.

My reasoning for not giving her answers was simple. I wanted to see if Quorra could do it on her own. I wanted to know if she could cheat without getting caught; prove that she was strong enough to be on this team. I meant what I told her, I believed the Hokage did "throw" her the position, becoming shinobi. To me, a true shinobi never backs down, even when things get tough, even your family treats you like scum, when I felt like a stranger in my own skin. A shinobi especially doesn't back down if their creepy sensei was hitting on them.

Quorra needed to prove to me, that despite the hardship, she was a shinobi. Wasn't that fair? She was becoming mine and Leda's teammate. I needed to know if she was worthy; that she would fight for us as we would for her.

That she wouldn't leave us again.

"I was going to give you the answers, too," I muttered. The words I truly wanted to say wouldn't come out as I shrunk into my shell once more.

"Bullshit," Quorra spat. "All you care about is creating a reason for Kiba to talk to you. And I still had the audacity to be happy for you, even when you threw Leda and myself under the bus! If Kiba didn't help me, I would have rose my hand and we wouldn't even be here right now. Doesn't that faze you?"

The words hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't even conjure up the courage to speak, let alone listen to Leda's advice. "Fuck you, Quorra," I struggled to say. My lips were trembling, hating myself more.

Quorra was quick to react. That was a trait with Quorra, when she was passionate about it, good or bad, she will go at it full throttle. "No, fuck you, Mae. Do you know what? I think this is all because you are jealous Kiba talks to me while he ignores you. You can't stand it."

I shrunk further into myself, fearing Quorra was right. Maybe I was jealous with the way Kiba looked at Quorra and how it wasn't the same with me. Was I that much of a fangirl?

"While you stand here bickering about your problems, I'm going to find Leda, my teammate," Quorra declared and took off before I could reply.

I was left to fend for myself in a place called the Forest of Death. I tried strategically to come up with other, more suitable names for the forest:

Forest of Darkness…

Forest of Daunting Quercus rubra…

Forest of Delirium…

Anything to calm my aching pit I called my stomach, but no name seemed to do justice. This was a forest of death.

A flock of flying creatures flew overhead. I wished hard that they were giant birds, but I couldn't fool myself. Their silhouette didn't resembled that of a bird's. Some were gliding while others leapt through the trees… like primates.

The mathematical possibility of them being Simiiformes that evolved with the characteristics of flight was improbable in my mind, but primary instincts kicked in. Not wanting to risk the chance, I dashed to the bushes.

With branches poking and probing me at every angle, I was safe, for now. Their declaring howl proved that they we indeed Simiiformes, flying monkeys. The creatures overhead didn't stop and seemed to have a destination in mind.

If someone told me that within the first hour of being in the Forest of Death, I would lose my teammate, argue with the other, and then hid in an uncomfortable bush from bizarre creatures, well, I would go on a ten minute rant explaining how their statement was ridiculous.

Indeed, as much as I wished it didn't happen, it did. I couldn't wrap my brain around it. The string of events that collided together with such force, a massacre that may never mend.

All those things I said to Quorra. I admit, I did think she was getting more chances than most. But, the depth of my anger and the way my body underwent a tsunami of emotions that came crashing, I had no idea I had that in me. All my life, I kept to myself. Tried not to step on any toes, be invisible in the sea of bodies and faces.

It all started with Quorra. That moment we meant in class and the bully of the year, Leda, pushed Quorra off her seat and called her the C-word. Something drawn me to her, Quorra, sitting on the floor looking clueless. Something in those eyes told me to step out of my 'Be Invisible' code and help her. It was the most climatic event that has ever happened in the timeline of my life.

Between her and Leda, they both tried to get me out of my comfort zone. Like that time Quorra dragged us— okay, me— to the hot springs. I've never been so scared in my life. Quorra knew that, yet she didn't pressure me. As for Leda, well, Leda was Leda. Her pressuring you was an act of kindness.

Long story short, they were the ones who inspire me to step out of my comfort zone. I started doing what I did best, be the genius, outwards for everyone to know. I knew I had a long way to go, to be like Leda and Quorra. Yet, they had my back and I blew it.

I couldn't forget Kiba. I never had an infatuation with a boy; nevertheless, thought I was worthy to be. Something about Kiba was enlightening. His naïve I'm-going-to-conquer-the-world attitude reminded me off… well it reminded me of Leda and Quorra. People I inspired to be.

But I feared this was a curse, one I should crawl back to my old self. My feelings, words to Quorra, weren't from inspiration. Those were buried deep inside of my own being, leaving me uneasy.

And now Quorra will find Leda, tell her what happened, and they will never forgive me.

As I thought it, I heard something in the distance. It was yelling…

Leda!

Stealthily, I tracked down the sound. As I suspected, it was Leda. I sighed with liberation. She was having an argument with something I never in a million years thought I would say. Leda was arguing…with a plant.

"Yo, Venus. Bug off, can't you see I'm trying to piss here?" she snapped as she began to unbutton her cargo pants.

Yes… Leda was arguing with a 10 foot, carnivorous Dionaea muscipula, a Venus flytrap. I swear, that girl can start an argument with a 10-foot pole.

The plant snapped at her, angered that she was in its territory. Unlike a normal flytrap, this one was poison red, almost as red as Leda's hair. Dark purple splotched the surface of its leafy skin, resembling bruises. Oh, and one more difference.

This one had teeth, lots of long, spiny, teeth.

"You know what? I don't like your attitude!" Leda could care less about the threat. She pulled a kunai from her pouch. "All I want to do is take a shit in peace! And you come popping from of the ground out of nowhere, saying I can't!"

She was right, below the monstrous plant, the ground was unsettled. Its hunting mechanism must be to hid underground until its prey— or a tasty red head—came by.

"Don't you know it's rude to watch people shit?" Leda waved the kunai like it was a toy, scolding the hostile plant. "How about I chop you down like a Cherry tree? Let's see how you like being disturbed!" Leda charged like a wild, Neanderthal.

"Leda, don't!" I yelled, jumping out of cover.

My voice threw her off balance, skidding to a halt. "Mae?"

That millisecond of dropping her defenses was all the Venus flytrap needed and lunged.

"Leda!" I warned.

Leda whipped her head back towards her opponent. "Fuck!"

One second, Leda was bad-mouthing a plant. The next, the plant was mouthing Leda as it grabbed hold of her with its needle teeth. Leda's bottom half was engulfed in the autotroph's mouth. Since she forgot to button her pants back up, half her rear was exposed.

"Leda!" I yelled.

"It's all good!" she reassured. She started pounding on the mouth of the plant. It growled with resistance, not wanting to release Leda anytime soon. "Just get me out of this pussy eater!"

One quick hand movement and a water jutsu later, I cut the stem, beheading it. It still fought back as the head and Leda tumbled. To finish the job, I trust my hand into the spinal cord of where I severed and forced water into it. The head swelled and eventually exploded. Chucks of plant meat scattered the forest floor, leaving the both of us wet.

Leda scrambled out of what remained of the mouth and wiped herself off. "Hmph! That's what you get for messing with me, you stupid, overgrown plant." She kicked a chuck of flytrap that was by her foot. The mud created from my water jutsu caused her to slip and cursed wildly. I shook my head with the biggest smile.

After defeating the Droseraceae, Leda finally was, at long last, able to relieve herself. She used the leaves of the flytrap to wipe her bottom, to show whose boss even in the afterlife, she explained. I was just glad I was there when I was.

It didn't take long for Leda to ask the big question of the hour. "Where's Quorra?"

"Looking for you," I replied. It was the truth. An eyebrow raise later, I sighed and succumbed to telling her what happened.

"You told Quorra she wasn't a hard worker?" Leda clarified what I said.

"Yes," I said, shamefully.

"And how people give her things she doesn't deserve?"

"People did give her things that she didn't have work as hard for, like we had to," I tried to defend myself.

Leda wasn't having it. "Man, that's dick."

"I know, okay, I know!" I caught myself, fearing my inner demon was going to take over again. With a deep breath, "Can you blame me? You and I studied like crazy for the shinobi exam. You actually stayed up all night for it. She left us and then comes back with everyone, everything and more. It wasn't fair." I knew Leda would defend Quorra. The way I approached it was unacceptable. "But, look how she treated us."

Leda remained quiet as we continued walking. I knew her. I could tell from her face she was wounded when Quorra wasn't at the graduation ceremony. No one was there to cheer her on. She might not have agreed with me, and she certainly thought my approach was uncalled for, but she did think Quorra pushed us away.

Leda avoided answering. "It's hot as a swampy ass here." She pulled on her crop top, fanning herself. "Aren't you hot as balls in that shit?" She eyed my long sleeved, long skirt outfit.

"No, not really," I lied. We worked up a sweat fighting a 10-foot man-eating plant.

"Why don't you tear some of that skirt off? It'll feel much cooler. I'll help." She reached for the hem of my skirt.

"No, that's alright." I ripped the fabric from her grasps.

"What's the matter with shortening the peasant skirt?" she barked. "You're hiding cuts under there or something?"

"Don't even kid about stuff like that!" I snapped. There it goes again, my temper. I didn't know what's wrong with me. Well, I did know. But, I would never tell her why.

"Okay, okay. Hands off the merchandise, my bad." Leda threw her hands up in defense. I avoided her convoluted stare as I readjusted my skirt.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about Quorra."

I knew she was, it was written all over her face. I was worried, too.

Leda quickly segued to another topic. "Oh, before I was getting eaten by Pusszilla the Weed, I bumped into Dog-Boy and his team."

"Kiba?" My head shot up. "How were they? Was he alright?"

"Yeah, they're fine. Kiba was freaked out though. Kept asking where Quorra was." Leda shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh…" I wished I didn't sound so disappointed.

Leda continued. "When I asked what was bunching up his undies, he wouldn't say. He kept asking where she was, don't know why. He looked as if he witnessed someone die."

I instantly was worried about him, hoping his group was alright and would find another scroll so that he could be in the finals. But, laced in the webbings of my emotions was sadness.

"The only way I got him to be remotely calm down was to reassure him that you were with her," she added.

Leda was trying to make me feel better, I knew that. It just goes to show that if something happened to her, all hell broke loose. But, if something happened to me, no one would care.

Leda rolled her eyes. "Look, I know you're in love with Drooler, alright? Just… give it time. Be yourself. Boys are naïve and stupid."

Shocked was the easy way of putting Leda's admiration. She never was the one for advice, even now. But that was the most genuine, non-sarcastic thing I ever heard escape from her lips. I stared Leda up and down. Her crazy demeanors were untouched by the forest, nor the plant eating psycho machine. She didn't care she was out here, fending for her life. She was with people she cared about, one of them being me, actually me. Has crazy as she was, she was one badas— butt.

Leda smirked at me and I could help, but smirk back. As touching as the moment was, it was my time to segue to a different topic. Glancing at her, I noticed her box of cigarettes poking out of her cargo pocket. The skulls and flames, typical Leda, winked.

"Leda, can I ask you something?"

"Huh?" She stared at me with her doe brown eyes.

I've noticed it for some time now— the full box of cigarettes. Leda, the girl who smoke enough cigarettes to out-smoke the most advanced smokers, hasn't been. In fact, now that I thought about it, I couldn't put my finger on the last time she had one stuffed idly in her bad-mannered mouth. "Why don't you smoke anymore?"

The question, I realized, took her by surprise. She then gave me a look I saw often in people. Like they were saying: How did she know? Oh, wait. Of course, she's a genius.

But happened next, even genius me could have never predicted. Leda smiled. It was a smile I have never seen on anyone, especially her. It was a smile that showed hope, and compassion, and her full-heart behind it. It was then I realized what the reason was, why she stopped smoking.

It was because of her. It was all for her.

Quorra Hatake vs Mae Muruyama

Faith can be a funny thing. One minute it is on your side, the next it will leave you to fend for yourself. Quorra looked petrified. Her wide, chartreuse green eyes glowed.

"Hey, that's no fair!" Naruto pointed at Hayate, our proctor. "They're teammates!"

"According to the rule, whoever's name appears on the screen has to fight," Hayate spoke, clearing his throat afterwards.

"Your rules can blow it up the ass!" Naruto declared. He was always the rash one of the group, but he was right. It wasn't fair.

"That's enough, Naruto," his sensei, Kakashi spoke. He was the opposite of Naruto, rational. It was admirable but what little visible skin I could see on him left me uneasy. "Do you want them to get disqualified before they even begin?"

Naruto began to rebut. "But, but… gr." He knew it was futile.

"Don't worry," Kakashi-sensei patted Naruto's head, demonstrating how tall Kakashi-sensei really was. He stared at Quorra with his expressive eye. That was another thing about him that left me uneasy. The way he looked at Quorra, it wasn't a teacher-student stare. Maybe that was because he was the one who found her in the forest, disheveled. Maybe that created a different, deeper connection between the two.

I was in bad shape, but Quorra won that contest. Exhaustion and battling has been cruel to Quorra. The newest scratch on her face doesn't help.

Kiba growled besides me. I knew he was mad that we got paired together, but that wasn't the only thing upsetting him.

"She'll forgive you," I reassured Kiba, grabbing his hand. He stared back with shock, surprised that I knew what made him upset.

I gave it a quick pat. I thought of Leda; how she told me to just be myself around him. And that's what I intend on doing. "Don't worry."

Little did he know, I was speaking for the both of us.

Kakashi-sensei shooed everyone, including Kiba, to the upper levels. Before the match officially began, he walked up to Quorra, while Gachero-sensei approached me.

"Hey, Mae. What's with the face? You should be very proud that you have made it this far," sensei comforted.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

With his pearly-white smile, he placed a hand on my shoulder and leaned in close, whispering distance from my ear. "You can do this, Mae. You graduated top in your class and I know how hard you have worked to be where you are. Don't let fighting against Quorra stop you from achieving your goals. I have faith you."

My eyes widen by Gachero-sensei's declaration. No one has ever acknowledged how hard I have worked. "Thank- thank you, sensei," I stuttered.

He batted his long eyelashes and took something out of his pocket and secretively placed it in my hands. I stared with puzzlement. It was a scroll.

"For the battle, just in case," he explained.

"What is it?" I didn't understand why he was giving this to me. Is this against the rules?

"It'll help with your fight against Quorra, but be careful. It requires a lot of chakra."

All I could do was nod. I was speechless. Was he going to give something to Quorra as well?

With a final pat and a wink later, Gachero-sensei left my presence and went to talk to Quorra. In replace, Kakashi-sensei approached me. He walked nonchalantly; hands deep in his pockets. In all honesty, I was surprised he came to talk.

"So this is it," he said, matter-of-fact.

"Yeah…"

His one eye examined me closely as if seeing me for the first time. When his eye fell onto the scroll I forgot was in my hand, I turned red, hiding it behind my back.

"Listen," he began. "I know it must be tough to fight against your own teammate, believe me. You both deserve to be here." I realized then why Quorra was so fascinated with Kakashi-sensei, even when he wasn't her actual sensei. He had a way that when he said something, it must be true.

"But, you mustn't go easy on Quorra, either," he continued. "She wouldn't want you too."

He meant what he said there as well. "I know," I replied.

"Right, good luck," he smiled under his mask and saluted. Together Gachero and Kakashi-sensei left the arena.

Jonin that specialized in earth style jutsu manipulated and rearranged the arena to return it back to normal, prior to the damage Lee inflicted on it. Then, Quorra and I walked to the center and faced each other. Even if she had hatred for me, she was unsettled. I could tell in her eyes she didn't want to fight her own comrade. Kakashi-sensei was right, I would have to apologize to Quorra later; otherwise, she won't give it her all and I don't want that. Right now, I needed to act tough; summon my inner Leda.

I want her to prove that she deserved to be here just like I did. That's why I found the loophole to keep us in the Chunin exams in the first place. I want this to be a fair fight— fair and square.

"Ready to begin?" Hayate asked.

Yes.

So we get some background on what happened in the Forest of Death and Mae's point of view on it.

Gachero gave Mae a scroll. What could be in it? And like Mae wondered, did Quorra get one too?

Next chapter will be the big fight!

XO